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Proof of Life	By : emilywaters Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 65994 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related. It all belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Bros., and any other entities involved. I make no money from writing fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 16
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Tripod

The following morning Luna arrived early, just like she had promised.

Harry gave her a quick hug and decided that they needed to have a talk before he left Severus in her care again.

�Luna, there's something you need to understand,� he said as non-argumentatively as he could. �Snape's perception of reality is rather shaky. Try not to confuse him. Please?�

She gave him a bright grin. �You're too attached to reality, Harry.�

�Yes, well, I happen to rather like it.�

�Do you?� She seemed genuinely surprised.

Harry snorted under his breath and gave up, departing to the Burrow before the strange conversation could escalate into an even stranger argument.

When he arrived at the New Burrow, Ginny and Lily greeted him with cheerful smiles.

�Mum is taking me to Diagon Alley!� Lily advised Harry happily.

�Oh,� Harry said, feeling just the faintest twinge of resentment at the fact that the day had already been planned, and he wasn't included in those plans. Then Harry remembered the number of times he'd canceled his plans with Ginny and Lily in the last three years and held back an unhappy remark.

�Well then, I guess I'll see you later tonight?� he said instead.

�You could come along, you know,� Ginny said simply. �Diagon Alley is big enough for three.�

His resentment dissipated at once and he found himself grinning.

�I'd like that.�

They arrived in Diagon Alley a few minutes later, and Harry lifted Lily up to let her sit on his shoulders. She squealed with delight and tugged on his hair. Ginny smiled wryly and took Harry's elbow.

�So how was the rest of your day yesterday?� she asked.

�Er� fine,� Harry said, not really wanting to talk about any of it at the moment.

�What did you do?�

Harry felt his cheeks flame as he realized that the previous day had been weird beyond all measure.

�You won't believe it, but I got that blasted cellar space finally cleaned out,� Harry muttered. �You've only been nagging me about it for two years.�

�I'm impressed,� Ginny said. �What made you finally do it?�

�Well, I've been considering setting up a workspace for Severus,� Harry said softly. �What do you think?�

�Not a bad idea,� Ginny agreed calmly. If she was bothered by changes taking place in her home during her absence, she gave no indication. �It's not like we're using it.�

�Right,� Harry agreed. �And it's a temporary thing anyway...�

�Hmm. Well, if you're setting up a workspace for him, he's going to need bookshelves and a desk,� Ginny said matter-of-factly. �Want to go check out a furniture shop?�

�Now?� Harry asked, slightly stunned by her offer.

Ginny looked up, glancing at Lily who was perched on her father's shoulders.

�What do you say, sweetie? Want to go shopping for furniture?�

�We don't need furniture!� Lily said indignantly, kicking her feet.

�She has her heart set on 'Wheezes', � Ginny explained. �How about we go there after the furniture shop?�

�I don't like furniture,� Lily continued to argue, her wet boots leaving tracks of mud on Harry's shirt.

�It's for a friend of your dad�s who we thought we'd lost,� Ginny said softly, lifting her hand to run it through Lily's dark hair. �Remember how we told you your middle name was after his mum? He needs some furniture.�

Lily shifted slightly on Harry's shoulders.

�Sev'rus Snape?� she inquired softly. �You found him?�

�We found him,� Harry said blissfully, grinning again. �We found him,� he repeated, loving the sound of those words.

�Fine then,� Lily relented. �Furniture.�

~ * ~

They picked out the shelves and the desk together, bearing in mind not only the aesthetics, but also the ease of assembly. Eventually they settled on a brand which could be set up without requiring wands or tools, since it was charmed to self-assemble at the user's voice prompts.

�Perfect,� Harry said enthusiastically.

�Who are they for, anyway?� the shopkeeper inquired.

�A friend of ours,� Harry said quickly, having no intention of broadcasting to the entire wizarding world that Snape's magical ability was compromised for the moment. �Her parents are Muggles, and they'll be staying with her for a few months.�

�Well, that's excellent,� the shopkeeper approved enthusiastically. �I still remember a time when you couldn't say something like that out loud without fear of reprisal,� he mused, clearly referring to the times during the war. �My father is Muggle-born, you know; it's good to see that the war wasn't for nothing.�

Harry nodded absently, suddenly feeling irritated by the man's sincere reminiscing. The war might not have been completely in vain, but it certainly hadn't achieved the blissful utopia everyone had been hoping for, and Severus Snape, confused and bound to Harry's home, was an excellent case in point. Harry didn't say anything however, and simply picked up the shopping bag containing the magically shrunken purchases. He reached for his pocket to pay, but to his surprise, Ginny stopped him by placing her hand on his wrist and paid for the shelves and the desk herself.

�Thanks,� Harry said as soon as they walked out of the shop, not managing to contain his bewilderment.

�Let's have breakfast,� Ginny said.

They approached a small caf�, finding a table on the patio. The waitress appeared, pouring a mug of coffee for each of them.

�I'm not hungry!� Lily complained. �I want to play!�

�Fine,� Ginny said instantly. �Run along � they have a swing and a slide in the children's play area. Stay where we can see you,� Ginny pointed, and Lily ran off promptly.

�You need to be more careful with your money,� Ginny said bluntly once Lily had departed. Harry was about to open his mouth to say something spiteful, something along the lines of, don't tell me what to do, when Ginny placed her hand on his and squeezed. �Harry, for once in your life, listen to me,� she said softly. �What if Snape needs to go back to St. Mungo's? What if something else comes up? You say I still act like I'm seventeen, but you are acting like you're seven!�

Harry muttered an obscenity under his breath and had to admit, if only to himself, that she had a point... this time.

�Fine...�

�How did you pay the St. Mungos' bill anyway? I know you didn't have that much left.�

�Sold the Black Estate,� Harry said. �Look, don't even start � it was mine, we'd agreed on it.�

�I don't suppose it occurred to you to ask me for money?� she said softly.

�You didn't seem in the mood to be asked for anything,� Harry pointed out.

�I was angry about you bringing Snape home without talking to me first, but...�

�So what are you saying? You'd have paid his hospital bill before sending him off to rot in Azkaban?�

�Harry, why is everything so black and white with you? Don't you ever see the middle ground? Even as angry as I was with you, I would never have suggested him being sent to Azkaban, but bringing him home was absolutely the most idiotic thing you could have done,� she said sternly. �He could have stayed with someone else � anyone else! My parents would have been ecstatic to have him with them! Poppy would have been delighted to house him, and she has the medical expertise to help him. Do you even understand what you've done?�

�He reached out to me!� Harry said defensively. �All I know is that when I held him it helped. I could tell. It made a difference.�

Ginny glared at him with irritation. �Of course it did. You understand why, I hope? You realize that most likely what happened was that the slave-bond granted you direct access to his central nervous system, allowing you to calm him by physical contact? A very useful feature of the spell, especially if it was designed for wartime, for the Master to be able to calm his anxious servant with a simple pat on the head.� Seeing Harry's unbelieving stare, she threw her hands up in frustration. �Let me guess, you thought he was clinging to you for some sort of sentimental reason, or because he was so awed by your kindness?�

�Fuck you!� Harry hissed under his breath, incredibly irritated that she had hit the bull's eye with her final observation.

�Not today, I'm afraid, and not ever if you keep this up,� Ginny said. �What you did was utterly thoughtless, and in the long term, quite cruel. With the slave-bond in place, and with you as his caregiver, you have created fertile ground for a very deep dependency to form, and an intense, passionate attachment to grow, an attachment that you'll never � never � be able to reciprocate, not fully...�

Harry glanced at her in surprise. �What do you know about slave-bonds?�

�Not as much as Malfoy, but I know enough. And you, obviously, don't know anything at all, because if you had any idea of the depth and intensity of slave-bonds, you'd have left him with a good friend of his, provided for him financially, and not insinuated yourself into his life at this point.�

�All right! I fucked up!� Harry snapped, desperately trying to banish the image of Severus and his putative future unrequited attachment towards him from his mind. �I'm sorry I didn't consult you. There. Happy now?�

She smiled, almost in spite of herself. �It's a start.�

Harry grinned as well. �You know, Ginny, that's what I love about you. You always say it like it is.�

�Always,� she agreed wryly. �You know what I love about you? It's that once in a rare while, you do listen.�

The waitress came up again and set the breakfast on the table � four croissants, buttered and drizzled with golden honey.

�God, I missed it,� Harry whispered, biting into one croissant. �I thought the meal replacement drinks were bad, but Hannah's pureed stuff is ... yuck. Has no salt, has flavoring of some sort that's meant to compensate for the lack of salt, but makes it just so much worse... I can't believe he's eating it without throwing a tantrum. By the way, you didn't answer me before, how did you figure it out so quickly? With the whole thing about � you know, access to his central nervous system through physical contact, you're thinking like a ...�

�Like a kinesiologist?� Ginny smiled, but without happiness. �If you had taken an interest in my career, Harry, you would have remembered that I took courses on anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology as part of my Quidditch training.�

�Oh, yes,� Harry muttered. �I remember now. Vaguely.�

Truth be told, he only remembered the piles of books on Ginny's bedside table and the bills he'd paid without looking at them.

�Anyway,� Harry spoke again into the awkward silence between them, �now what?�

�Now you want my advice?�

�Yes, now I want your advice,� Harry said tiredly.

�Fine,� Ginny said. �We should continue housing him, but you need to make sure you aren't the only thing in his world. Help him make connections with other people. Having other members of Dumbledore's Army spend time with him will help with that. As for the rest.... I hate to say this, but Malfoy was right. We need to address Snape's legal situation first, before we consider experimenting with counterspells.�

Harry grinned in spite of himself and reached to touch her forehead. �Not running a fever, are you?� he said wryly. �You've just agreed with Malfoy on something.�

�Shut up,� Ginny said, and her lips twitched into an amused smirk.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and then, Harry reached for her and took her face in his hands, his thumbs trailing her cheekbones, reveling in the softness of her skin. He leaned in to kiss her, and she let him, with a slightly surprised look on her face. He swiped his tongue against her lips and for a few moments he simply drank in the gentle, comfortable and comforting intimacy that he'd come to rely on.

Another moment later, she pulled away from him and looked at him thoughtfully.

�You kiss differently,� she said softly.

�Oh. Really? What way?� he asked, feeling very self-conscious at her observation.

�More... gentle,� she said, sounding surprised. �So tender � it's almost heart-wrenching. You haven't kissed me like this since � well, since I was pregnant with Lily actually...�

He sighed. �Sorry. Did I weird you out?�

�I didn't say it was bad,� she protested. �Just unexpected.�

�I guess lately I've been more aware of what I've lost, or nearly lost,� Harry said awkwardly. �I don't want to lose you, Ginny.�

Her face fell slightly at his words, but she looked up at him to give him a brave smile.

�Best friends forever, right?� she offered hesitantly.

�And more,� he said softly, unsure if he should brace himself for rejection this time.

But Ginny just smiled again. �And more,� she agreed.

~* ~

When Harry returned home in the late afternoon, he brought the bookshelves and the desk down to the cellar space and resized them, before putting Severus to work assembling them to his own liking.

�They're charmed to respond to voice prompts,� Harry explained. �You can put them up any way you want. If you need help, shout for Luna.�

Severus stared at him blankly, but for the first time something like hesitant pleasure crossed his face.

Encouraged by this, Harry left again and went to the Burrow to spend more time with Ginny and Lily, leaving Severus with Luna.

When Harry returned in the early evening, Luna greeted him with a smile that seemed to be just a little too innocent and too cheerful. Harry stared at her suspiciously and nearly jumped when a forceful poke was delivered to his ankle.

Harry stared down and saw a small cat that stared back at him for a fleeting moment.

�You brought a cat!� Harry snapped, slightly shocked by what seemed like a betrayal of his trust at this point. �While I was gone, you brought a cat!�

�Yes,� Luna confessed bravely.

�That's not right � Luna how could you?�

Another moment later the cat ran away, heading down for the cellar. Even though the cat moved at lightning speed, Harry still noticed that something was off with its gait.

�Something is wrong with the cat,� Harry said. �He's limping.�

�He's missing a hind leg,� Luna said serenely.

�I see,� Harry said bitterly. �So, you obviously decided that my life wasn't complicated enough at this point, and you've gifted me with a three-legged cat.�

�He's a very friendly cat,� Luna protested. �He's been living in a church graveyard for the last two years.�

�You stole a three-legged cat from a church???� Harry exclaimed indignantly.

�Yes, but that's all right. You need him more than they do,� Luna said. �By the way, his name is Tripod.�

�His name isn't the point!�

For the first time something like doubt entered Luna's voice. �I thought you liked cats.�

�I do, very much,� Harry spoke more or less calmly, albeit with dwindling patience. �You know what else I like, Luna? I like being married. Specifically, I like being married to Ginny. You know what Ginny likes? She likes it when I ask her before bringing someone into the house. She's funny that way.�

�Oh.� Luna's face fell at Harry's words. �Should I take him back then?�

�Please.�

Luna shook her head. �You know, you really should seriously consider the cat, for Snape's sake. Research shows that elderly people live longer when they have a plant in their room to take care of...�

�Severus isn't elderly, and the cat isn't a plant!� Harry snapped.

�Well, you know what I mean.�

�The cat needs to go.�

They stared at each other in strained silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Luna was the one to breach it.

�Fine,� Luna said, sitting up on a chair and crossing her arms on her chest defiantly. �Go get the cat. I'll take him away.�

�Fuckitall,� Harry muttered, and made his way to the cellar.

~*~

When the small creature first ran into the cellar space Severus gave it nothing but a cursory glance and then went back to his work. The cat made a round, surveying the room, and finally approached him, issuing a high-pitched, needy mewl, and butting Severus' ankle with his head.

�I'm busy,� Severus informed him. The cat mewed again and proceeded to weave himself around Severus' feet with quiet determination.

Severus stared at the cat, taking notice of a missing hind leg.

�Pitiful little wretch, aren't you? Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be the one talking.� Severus knelt on the floor and stretched out his hand, which the cat proceeded to promptly nuzzle and lick in an almost dog-like fashion. Hesitantly, Severus lifted his hand and petted the animal, awkwardly running a flat palm over the cat's fur. The cat arched his back up and purred.

Severus found himself utterly defenseless before the animal's simple action. How long had it been since someone or something enjoyed his touch, without paying him back for it with mindless cruelty?

The cat continued to purr.

Severus stretched out on the floor to lie on his back and the cat proceeded to walk onto his chest and settle down on it, kneading wildly with his paws and purring. That was the position Harry found them in � Severus lying on his back on the floor, amidst the half-assembled furniture, and the cat sitting on top of him, purring out loud.

Harry stopped in the doorway and smiled.

�Hey,� Harry said softly.

�Harry,� Severus said instantly, making a move to sit up. �I got distracted... the bookshelves...�

�Never mind the bookshelves,� Harry quickly dismissed. �Do you like the cat?�

The simple question put him on guard instantly. It was probably a small mercy that he hadn't interacted with any pets over the last seven years. Attachments were not a wise thing to develop. He had discovered it when, having been left alone for two days, he had taken to watching a large spider weave an intricate web in the corner of his cell. For hours Severus had stared at the clever arthropod, admiring his movements, until one of his captors entered the cell, intercepted his gaze, and squashed the spider without uttering a single word.

Severus had no doubt whatsoever that had he admitted to liking any animal during his captivity, the aforementioned animal would have been torn limb from limb.

But this... this time, Severus could tell, it was different, as he noticed the oddly sentimental expression on Harry's face. Even if Harry didn't like him, Harry wouldn't harm the cat. Where did this new faith come from? Maybe from the slightly goofy smile on Harry's face as he patiently waited for a response of some sort.

�Yes,� Severus said finally. �Yes, I like the cat.� Giving that answer was like taking a plunge into an abyss. Severus wondered if there would be anyone to catch him.

Harry's voice put an end to his uncertainty. �All right then. If we keep him, can you feed him and water him while I'm at work?�

Severus turned his head in Harry's direction. �Yes, I can do that.�

�His name is Tripod,� Harry informed him, watching the cat rub its back against Severus' stubbled chin.

�Tri-pawed?�

Harry smiled again. �Exactly.�

~ * ~

Later that night, when Severus approached the bed wearing his grey nightshirt, Harry noticed that the man's fledgling beard had been shaved off. Harry wondered privately at the significance of it, but didn't ask. He also thought privately that Severus looked much, much better without the beard, but kept his mouth shut.

Harry moved to the side of the bed and shut his eyes. The bed inclined slightly when Severus crawled under the blanket next to him.

There was a small movement as someone else joined them on the bed. Tripod arrived and wormed his way between them under the covers, purring loudly. They petted him together for a long time, their fingers entwining in the cat's thick, silky fur.

�Feels nice,� Harry mumbled.

�Yes,� Severus agreed.

When Harry and Severus grew tired of petting him, Tripod insinuated himself between their hands, rubbing his head against their palms furiously.

�He's a self-petting cat,� Harry muttered, beginning to drift.

�Yes.� Severus' voice was thick with sleep. �Very efficient.�

To Be Continued...

16

17

18

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Proof of Life